Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001. Its rail network serves major cities in the United States, such as Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chicago, and New York City. Its headquarters is in Calgary, Alberta. It owns approximately 14000 square miles route miles of track all across Canada and into the United States, stretching from Montreal to Vancouver, as far north as Edmonton.

The company acquired two American lines in 2009: the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad. The trackage of the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad was at one time part of CP subsidiary Soo Line Railroad and predecessor line The Milwaukee Road. The combined Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad system spanned North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Iowa, as well as two short stretches into two other states, which included a line to Kansas City, Missouri, and a line to Chicago, Illinois, and regulatory approval to build a line into the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885, (connecting with Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered Canadian Confederation in 1871. It was Canada's first transcontinental railway, but currently does not reach the Atlantic coast. Primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for decades the only practical means of long-distance passenger train in most regions of Canada, and was instrumental in the settlement and economic development of Western Canada]]. The CP became one of the largest and most powerful companies in Canada, a position it held as late as 1975. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986, after being assumed by Via Rail Canada in 1978. A beaver was chosen as the railway's logo because it is one of the national symbols of Canada and represents the hardworking character of the company. The object of both praise and condemnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of Canadian nationalism.

The Canadian Pacific Railway is a public company with over 15,000 employees and market capitalization of US $7 billion in 2008.

Canadian Pacific and coal
As of 2010 CP operates 1250 high-capacity aluminum coal cars. Canadian Pacific Railway hauls about 65% of all coal to the Westshore Terminals in British Columbia, CP has about 24 unit coal trains in continuous service depending on demand..

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